Windows 10: It’s Like Riding a Bike (Premium)

In June 2021, Microsoft announced Windows 11 with the type of virtual event that still felt weird in that not-quite post-pandemic world. But these are the moments I live for: My writing career started 30 years ago, it's always centered on Windows and Microsoft, and I've written books about every (major) Windows release since 1995. And in keeping with the mindset that led to the SuperSite for Windows—it's the future of Windows … today!--I immediately switched to Windows 11, leaving Windows 10 behind so that I could immerse myself in this new system.

This was pragmatic: I knew I'd be writing a book about Windows 11—the Windows 11 Field Guide, which has since ballooned to about 1100 pages—and that it's not possible to fully understand something unless you're immersed in it. I don't regret that decision per se, but as was the case with other less well-received Windows versions in the past—Windows Millennium Edition, Vista, and Windows 8—much of the rest of the world didn't share my enthusiasm for change. Today, over two and a half years into Windows 11's life cycle, roughly two-thirds of all Windows users, some several hundred million people, are still using Windows 10.

As is so often the case, the reasons for this are many. Some of it is Microsoft's fault, of course: The Windows 11 hardware requirements, which in effect obsolete anything older than a PC with an 8th Gen Intel Core processor (or equivalent from AMD or Qualcomm), feel arbitrary because they are arbitrary, and we shouldn't be surprised that this strategy cast a weird suspicious shadow over the product. And some of it is the same slow-boil business inertia that's dogged Windows for decades, with Windows 10 replacing Windows 7 as the version on which many organizations have stuck. After all, it's not wise to jump out of a perfectly working airplane.

In enthusiast circles, Windows 11 has likewise met a stubborn resistance, also for many reasons. We're technical enough to work around Microsoft's hardware restrictions—and Microsoft, to its credit, is smart enough to let us do so, without ramification—but initial concerns about functional regressions tied to the simpler new Windows 11 user interface have since given way to deeper worries about enshittification. And this one is a real problem: In addition to the forced Microsoft account (MSA) and Microsoft Edge usage, OneDrive in Windows 11 has jumped the shark by harassing users into using folder backup and then silently enabling this feature when the offer is declined. This isn't just bad design, it's malicious, unethical, and anti-customer.

I've spent much of the past few years documenting the problems with Windows 11 and the workarounds when they're available. But I've also been pushed to the edge in ways that are unprecedented, even compared to the dark days of Windows 8. I stopped using OneDrive for my day-to-day work and switched to the superior and nag-free Google Drive. And I even stopped using Micro...